Hyundai wins tanker order

Hyundai wins tanker order

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): South Korea's Hyundai Group signed a deal yesterday with Malaysian International Shipping Corp. Bhd. (MISC) to build two tankers at US$40 million each to boost pal oil shipments.

The 30,000-deadweight-ton vessels will increase MISC's fleet of tankers to 11 and help the state-owned shipping firm ferry 15- to-20 percent of Malaysia's palm oil output, company officials said.

Malaysia exported 7.4 million tons of crude palm oil last year and is expected to ship 7.8 million tons this year, making it the world's largest producer of the commodity.

"With the expected increase in palm oil production, we probably would add more vessels in the future," MISC managing director Ariffin Alias told reporters after signing up Hyundai Corp. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd. to construct the tankers.

Ariffin said the two tankers would be delivered by March 1997 and used to ferry palm oil and chemicals from Malaysia to the Indian subcontinent, Red Sea ports and Europe.